Garage Sale Tip #4 – Take The Experts With You (I’ll show you how!)

Everyone loves a home run. No, I’m not talking about when the ball goes over the outfield fence and the batter can trot around the bases… I’m talking about the reseller’s home run! When you buy something for super cheap, and then flip it for huge profits. I love finding a book for a quarter, and then selling it for $50 just a few weeks later. I’ll never forget the rush of buying 5 brand new vintage video games for $25 each, and then selling them for $350 each! Home runs can be the fuel that keeps a reseller in the game.

I want to let you in on a tool that I use to help me find home runs. It’s called The Home Run Guide and it’s absolutely the best book for finding those hidden (and not so hidden) home runs. This book is a collection of articles written by many different reselling experts. I have referenced the Home Run Guide countless times when I’ve been at garage sales, thrift stores, and estate sales. I have the mobile version on my Kindle AND iBooks app (just in case one of those apps crashes) so I can easily bring up the information I need to make sure what I have in front of me is indeed a home run.

The Home Run Guide is broken up into Volume One, Two, and Three. All three volumes are excellent, and I highly recommend them. Volume One is 490 pages full of useful information to help you find home runs. That’s not a typo… 490 pages. Volume Two is equally impressive at 369 pages. The newest addition, Volume Three is loaded with amazing home runs, as well as a “Success Knowledge” section. This section will help you with ‘Setting up your Sales Tax on Amazon,’ ‘Attending Trade Shows,’ ‘Organizing your Online Business,’ and more. It’s truly an amazing guide.

The authors who write each section of The Home Run Guide go into great detail so that you can get the most information and make the best buying decisions. They include pictures, as well as what to definitely buy and what to never buy.

In The Home Run Guide, you’ll learn so many new things to be on the lookout for. It’s great for both eBay and Amazon resellers alike. Here is just a small sample of what is in The Home Run Guide:

Tips and Tricks – Negotiation Skills, Clearance Sale Tips, Garage and Estate Sales Tricks, Rummage Sales, Thrift Stores, a guide to shopping at Target, an intro to Sales and Use Tax, Organization tips, Trade Shows, IFTTT (If This Then That) Video Training, and so much more.

You can buy each volume individually, or you can buy them all together and get a discounted rate.

If you purchase this guide through my link, I will get an affiliate commission, which helps pay to keep this blog up and running. However, I want to assure you that I only promote products that I use myself and completely believe in. This guide will pay for itself over and over again. Click on this link to see more details about The Home Run Guide.

Like many other Amazon FBA sellers, I am trying to break away from running to the store. I have found some of your methods helpful. Thanks for sharing. Do you know how successful sourcing product from wholesale companies is? I’m trying to lower my inventory cost and raise my profit margin because the popularity of FBA has made the competition thick. Any help would be amazing. Thanks

Wholesale sourcing is, like anything else, a learning process. You try different companies and different items and see what works best for you and your business model. I got most of my wholesale learning from this course:http://www.fulltimefba.com/wholesale-profits

Do you scan items at garage sales? I’ve been planning to go to a few in the coming weeks, but I don’t know that I feel comfortable scanning things if the sellers are standing right there wondering what I’m doing.

Cattie, Yes, I do scan items at garage sales. 99% of the time the people running the garage sale are in their own world, talking to other people, or not even paying attention to notice that I’m scanning. If they ever do ask me what I’m doing, I tell them that I’ checking prices and reviews on Amazon. I’m not shy anymore about being open and honest about what I’m doing. Most people running a garage sale just want to get rid of their stuff and are happy you’re there to buy. It takes a bit getting used to, but I don’t hide my scanning anymore.

Thanks for the quick reply Stephen! Good to know, I guess I have to assume that they don’t think I’m running some sort of shady operation and am trying to cheat them out of house and home. 🙂 Do you ever have anyone tell you to leave or refuse to sell to you?

I have never had anyone refuse to sell to me in over 4 years of buying at garage sales to sell online. Only one time did someone actually ask me what I planned to sell the item for (that was an awkward moment). Some come right out and ask me if I sell on “ebay,” but few even realize Amazon is a great place to sell online too. But again, 99.9% of the time it never even comes up.

Disclaimer

At times, I might include affiliate links of items that I endorse. If you click through and decide to purchase the item linked, I will make a small commission on the sale. I promise to never endorse a product only because I have an affiliate link to it. I only want to post links when it is helpful to you and your business. ~Stephen